Career Path

Sheppy

Hello All,

I have a small problem about which path in IT i take. My personal background is quite different to most peoples so let me spend a minute or two explaining:

I am naturaly talented and bright, and have managed to do well without putting much effort in during school. In year 11 (year you take GCSE exams) I was kicked out of school for cannabis use. I went to another school to take my GCSE exams and got 7 GCSEs (4A's, 2B's, 1C incl A's in Maths Eng Science (double)). I then carried on at that school as a 6th form student studying Maths Bio and Chem, hoping to work in medicine later. I was then kicked out of that school a few months ago because i wasnt putting in effort to these subjects (at all). I am now a technician earning £11k/year.

I have come to realise my career must be in IT. I am 17 years old and have a large IT related background. At about 11 years I started developing my IT skills. I started learning PHP and MySQL web development, and created an online gaming league website which held the team information/match fixtures/results/user authentication/private messaging system and more, much like http://www.enemydown.co.uk/. I then started working in the web industry at age 14 when I ran a small business hosting websites on a VPS running CentOS and custom configured cPanel/WHM. I learnt how to use Linux, how to interact with clients and work in customer support with tickets, setup client billing and support software (ModernBill and Kayako), plently of networking/DNS etc.

I also setup an office network for my dad aged 15, which consisted of a server and 8 client computers. Completly windows based, i designed and implemented the network successfully using Active Directory and Exchange Server, file sharing, print sharing, company site hosting using IIS, etc. So I also have some experience working with windows networks.

So to summarise, I have skills/experience but no official training (all self taught) in these areas:

- Programming (PHP, MySQL, MSSQL, ASP.NET, PERL, LAMP)
- Networking (Mainly Windows, but also little in Linux)
- OS (Windows XP/Server 2003/Linux)
- Web Servers (Apache, IIS)
- Customer Interaction

Now, enough about my background, its more about my future I want to think/talk about. I am applying to college next year to take a BTEC National Diploma in either:

IT Practioners (Networking)
IT Practioners (Software Development)

I enjoy software developing a lot. I can do it from home with myself and a computer and my webserver. But give me a network with a few windows servers and client computers or a need for this and i can have just as much fun if not more designing and implementing a windows network. I love the physical work of networking aswell as the computer based configuration etc.

I am currently studying for my Zend Certified Engineer certificate to help further and then recognise my PHP skills, and will probably start taking MCTS exams soon to also have skills for ASP.NET 2.0 and C#. Next year whilst taking my National Diploma I will also be studying for my CCNA.

Now my problem is which path do i take? I can enjoy a job in either path listed above but I want to head in a direction where jobs are available and will pay well. I also like the idea working in the security aspect of IT.

I know I still am young and have time to choose where im going, but I have to make the decision of which course I take at collage very soon and Im worried choosing the wrong one will set me on the wrong course later.

Thanks for reading this, much appreciated.

Harry

Kaminsky

I think it may be better for you to head down the software route as I think you might get bored too quickly in the support arena. Yes you can set up small PC networks and projects like that which interest you but there won't be a lot of that in support for a junior and it would be a while before you could, regardless of whether you can or not.

Also, you seem to be the sort that when bored becomes self destructive without realising it. (no disrespect, most IT types were exactly the same at that age including me)

The software side of things would keep your brain engaged (well, theoretically) and keep you pushing yourself as long as you managed to get into the right environment to nurture you through the early years. (again, no disrespect intended)

However, as I father of 3 young kids I would recomend that rather than just set your mind to working for someone else for the rest of your life, learn the ropes for a couple of years and then set out on your own creating secure web portals including possible hardware infrastrure installations for companies wanting to get themselves on the web which is only going to happen more and more in the future. You will never get rich working for someone else so learn the ropes for a few years and then use your good brain to strike out on your own.